Something died in the middle of this week’s Food Network Star — and not just guest judge Katie Lee’s will to live after being asked to accept the idea that a steaming bowl of soup makes the perfect warm-weather family-reunion entree. READ MORE

Not since egomaniacal monster Matthew went home in Week 2 have the “Good riddance!” receptors in my brain gotten as warm and tingly as they did during tonight’s Food Network Star elimination. READ MORE

Last summer’s edition of Food Network Star was something of a collapsed soufflé — after a lot of time and effort, the end result (a win by the relentlessly inauthentic “Cowboy Lenny” in an otherwise dubious field of cooks) had me wondering if it was time to retire the recipe altogether. READ MORE & TAKE OUR POLL